Each of MAVEN's solar array "wings" has a magnetometer on its tip to take readings of Martian magnetic field as the spacecraft orbits the Red Planet. The data is seen as crucial to evaluate the interaction between the solar wind from the sun and the thin atmosphere of Mars.
The launch team for MAVEN will have two hours to begin the flight on launch day. The window opens Nov. 18 at 1:28 p.m. EST and closes at 3:28 p.m. EST. The launch window is dictated by a number of factors, primarily the alignment of Earth and MAVEN's destination, Mars. The spacecraft will fly into …
Wonder what MAVEN would've seen on Mars if it had been in orbit there over Halloween? Read this for the answer.
Hello from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida where the MAVEN spacecraft is undergoing careful preparations at the hands of engineers and technicians ahead of its launch to study the upper atmosphere and history of Mars. Adjacent to Kennedy, at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, teams are readying a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket …
